fallout from a restless mind

#gastrognome: christine crimble’s coconut ‘croons

those of you who are friends of mine or RQT regulars will no doubt have heard me wax lyrical about the many comestible virtues of Mrs Crimble’s Coconut Macaroons.

i love them passionately.

my profound admiration for Christine’s (as i like to imagine Mrs Crimble is called) moist, wheat and gluten free coconut cakes derives from two outstanding qualities:

1. they’re freaking delicious
2. The Dr doesn’t like coconut, so I don’t have to feel guilty about not sharing them

given all this, you can imagine how delighted i was when Mrs Crimble herself got in touch and asked if she could send me some samples of a recent addition to her confectionary family: Mini Choc Orange Macaroons. however, in the interests of impartial, professional evaluation, and because i’ve given up chocolate for Lent, i handed all but one of the delicious morsels over to our resident foodie and RQT heart-throb, the #gastrognome (i ran the other one under the hot tap to remove the chocolate).

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as far as i can tell from my lowly (disad)vantage point, one of the most remarkable things about Mrs Crimbles Macaroons is the fact that the people that buy them seem to think that they are privilege to some sort of special, secret revelation – like the Gnostics of old, or Tom Cruise.

the facts are, however, that the original Choc Macaroons sell at a rate of over 1/sec in the UK. one. another one. one more. and so on. so, it seems that, in reality, everyone is keeping the same secret.

i think perhaps it is the indulgent nature of the sumptuous coconut cakes in question that gives rise to this phenomenon – eating them creates such a sense of satisfaction that no-one can bear to think that other people regularly enjoy the same experience.

when confronted with the new Mini Choc Orange variety my first thought was one of overwhelming joy that, at last, littler people were being catered to and for. like our illustrious editor, i too enjoy an original Mrs C’s macaroon, but at around 3″ across, they’re nearly half as wide as i am tall, and, as such, are a nightmare to get home from Gnomesbury’s (i get a taller gnome friend, who’s 9’2, to help me).

these new gems, however, are barely larger than my head, and much easier to handle (even if they are in a more spread out arrangement in their packaging).

their texture is quite different from that of their large, plainer cousins, but while they’re looser, softer and more yielding, they’re no less satisfying to munch. the orange element is nicely tangy (with that delicious, slightly bitter tang of quality marmalade) and the dark chocolate sets the whole thing off superbly.

whether you buy them because they’re wheat and gluten free, because they’re more wholesome than many snacks, because you’re small and so are they, or just because they’re delicious – whatever the reason, i’d recommend you try them.

nomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnom

ps. Mrs Crimble also does a wide range of other gluten and wheat free treats, from muffins all the way over to crackers – check out the full range here

this is ...

a place designed to house thought excesses. if my mind is archimedes' bath, the water my general thoughts and archimedes himself the kind of clever thoughts i'm supposed to put in my work, then what you will find here is what escapes over the brim as the skinny boffin lowers himself into the tub. it exists, further indulging the analogy, on the basis that it might be necessary to collect and measure the runoff in order to know the volume of the person.